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Deep Water
IFC Films
MPAA RATING: PG for thematic elements, mild language and incidental smoking
Starring
Jean Badin,
Clare Crowhurst,
Donald Crowhurst,
Simon Crowhurst,
Santiago Franchessie,
Ted Hynds,
Donald Kerr,
and
Tilda Swinton
Deep Water is the stunning true story of the fateful voyage of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur yachtsman who entered the most daring nautical challenge ever: the very first solo, nonstop, round-the-world boat race. (IFC Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Louise Osmond
Jerry Rothwell
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 18, 2007
Theatrical: August 24, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
92 minutes, Black and White / Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
TV Guide
Ken Fox
The real emotional impact of the film lies in the candid interviews with Crowhurst's wife, Clare, and his son, Simon, both of whom are clearly still haunted by Crowhurst and his fateful voyage.
100
San Francisco Chronicle
G. Allen Johnson
One of this year's better studies of the human soul.
100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Deep Water is a movie that will connect to anyone whose private fantasies and creative plots have landed them in hot water.
91
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
This was a story that made front pages in its day but has been largely lost to history, and now is brought bracingly and compellingly back to life.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
A spooky, moving documentary.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tasha Robinson
A compelling, well-researched, beautifully assembled document.
90
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Disturbing, unnerving and wire-to-wire involving, Deep Water is the story of a dream that got so wildly out of hand that it ensnared the dreamer in an intricate trap of his own devising.
89
Austin Chronicle
Toddy Burton
It’s hard to imagine a time when the sea bore a sense of adventure close to outer space.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
The story of Donald Crowhurst is not one of remarkable courage or remarkable endurance. But it is remarkable.
88
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Deep Water is a documentary, but it's also one part adventure film, one part Greek tragedy, and one part meditation on the role of the "hero" in modern society.
80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
As Crowhurst's situation grows desperate, the scope of the film expands -- from a good yarn to a haunting, complex tale of self-promotion, media madness, self-delusion and, finally, self-destruction.
80
Chicago Reader
Joshua Katzman
An exquisitely structured drama.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
A stunning documentary that not only beautifully elucidates a nearly forgotten incident but touches on crucial themes involving isolation, sanity, self-worth, impossible dreams, the nature of heroism and limits of human endurance.
80
The New York Times
Rachel Saltz
Again and again you want to shout at the screen: “Turn back. All will be forgiven.” This tale of risk, though, ends not with man conquering nature but in calamitous failure.
75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
This fine documentary mixes archival footage, interviews with the sailor's family and sponsors, and - most amazingly - excerpts from the film and audiotape diary kept by Crowhurst.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Esposito
It's like watching a slow multi-car pileup on an icy road: Everyone can see what's about to happen, but nobody can stop it.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
The stories of the other competitors are just as fascinating, particularly that of Bernard Moitessier who, after nearly a year at sea, could not bear to return to England, and turned sail for Tahiti.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Jason Anderson
Even though the subject of this British documentary is a traveller who got lost in a more terrestrial sort of void, the spirit of the stranded astronaut haunts Deep Water.
70
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The movie leaves us with greater things to contemplate than a mere tragedy of errors.
70
Variety
Deborah Young
As it explores the limits of human endurance, the pic should suck even landlubbers into a whirlpool of gripping adventure, overblown ambitions and sheer human folly.
70
LA Weekly
Scott Foundas
It is the point -- and the power -- of Deep Water that the vast, unknowable fathoms of the sea are rivaled only by those of the human psyche.
63
Boston Globe
Mark Feeney
Deep Water, which had seemed like a sort of Conrad novel, takes on the aspect of Dickens at his darkest.
60
Empire
Anna Smith
A sad story, but well told, with respect for its subject and an eye for the Shakespearian tragedy in the tale.
50
Village Voice
Julia Wallace
Co-directors Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell have done a commendable job of making Deep Water . . . well, not boring.
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.7 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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